Denise Varney is Professor of Theatre Studies and co-director of the Australian Centre in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.

“Varney combines a theoretically astute sense of the hybridity of the dramatic event, with a dense but lucidly rendered sociological history of White’s plays as they progress through different productions, revivals, and receptions … This is an essential insight, and one which could be usefully extended to White’s novels, and perhaps to Australian modernism broadly.”

• FiguresAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. Reading the early plays: a critical reflection2. Reading the later plays: anticipating revival3. Expressionist theatricality: The Ham Funeral 1961–20174. Staging suburbia: The Season at Sarsaparilla5. Performing militant virtue and loneliness: A Cheery Soul6. Country retreat: Night on Bald Mountain and Netherwood7. Sydney, sexuality and uranium: Big Toys and Signal Driver8. Shepherd on the Rocks: enchantment and critiqueConclusionWorks CitedIndex

Denise Varney is Professor of Theatre Studies and co-director of the Australian Centre in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.

“Varney combines a theoretically astute sense of the hybridity of the dramatic event, with a dense but lucidly rendered sociological history of White’s plays as they progress through different productions, revivals, and receptions … This is an essential insight, and one which could be usefully extended to White’s novels, and perhaps to Australian modernism broadly.”

• FiguresAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. Reading the early plays: a critical reflection2. Reading the later plays: anticipating revival3. Expressionist theatricality: The Ham Funeral 1961–20174. Staging suburbia: The Season at Sarsaparilla5. Performing militant virtue and loneliness: A Cheery Soul6. Country retreat: Night on Bald Mountain and Netherwood7. Sydney, sexuality and uranium: Big Toys and Signal Driver8. Shepherd on the Rocks: enchantment and critiqueConclusionWorks CitedIndex

Denise Varney is Professor of Theatre Studies and co-director of the Australian Centre in the School of Culture and Communication at the University of Melbourne.

“Varney combines a theoretically astute sense of the hybridity of the dramatic event, with a dense but lucidly rendered sociological history of White’s plays as they progress through different productions, revivals, and receptions … This is an essential insight, and one which could be usefully extended to White’s novels, and perhaps to Australian modernism broadly.”

• FiguresAcknowledgementsIntroduction1. Reading the early plays: a critical reflection2. Reading the later plays: anticipating revival3. Expressionist theatricality: The Ham Funeral 1961–20174. Staging suburbia: The Season at Sarsaparilla5. Performing militant virtue and loneliness: A Cheery Soul6. Country retreat: Night on Bald Mountain and Netherwood7. Sydney, sexuality and uranium: Big Toys and Signal Driver8. Shepherd on the Rocks: enchantment and critiqueConclusionWorks CitedIndex